Daunte Wright's killer, Kim Potter released from prison

Two years after Daunte Wright was shot dead by a Minnesota police officer, Kim Potter, the officer charged with killing him has been released from prison. Potter claims that on April 11, 2021, she mistook her gun for a taser, a mistake that cost the 20-year-old black man his life. The former police officer was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and awarded a two-year sentence for her crime.

Potter claims she believed she was gripping her Taser and not her gun at the time. On the police body cam video, she is even heard yelling "Taser" several times just before she fires her pistol as Wright attempted to drive away.

Of the two years, she spent 16 months behind bars. Department of Corrections spokesman Andy Skoogman said that Potter will be on supervised release until December 21st and that this time will be spent in Wisconsin.

As per the news agency AP, under Minnesota state law, felons sentenced to prison sentence typically serve only two-thirds of their sentence behind bars. The remaining time is served on supervised release.

Based on state guidelines, the state attorney general's office had recommended a sentence of just over seven years in prison for Potter. However, she received a two-year sentence from Judge Regina Chu. This drew criticismfrom the Wright family as well as their lawyer, Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney.

Katie Wright, Daunte's mother after the sentencing, exclaimed that Potter murdered her son, and "today the justice system murdered him all over again."

However, defence attorneys, as per AP, argued that Potter had the right to defend herself from Wright, who was trying to drive away.

Judge Chu at the time classified Daunte Wright's killing as separate from high-profile killings like George Floyd, the trial of which was happening when the fatal incident happened. For killing Floyd, former police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.

(With inputs from agencies)

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